Huawei Mate 30 Pro: Reviewers slam Google-free phone for lack of apps
Chinese tech giant Huawei has received a cool response to the launch of its first Google-free phone, the Huawei Mate 30 Pro, in France yesterday.
Reviews of the device were far from glowing as critics blasted the lack of Google apps.
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Huawei had to install its own operating system after Donald Trump banned the Chinese company from using its licence for Google’s Android operating system over spying accusations.
While Google’s Play Store boasts 2.8m apps, Huawei’s replacement App Gallery counts just 45,000.
French users who buy the phone must do without Facebook, Instagram, Netflix, YouTube, Uber and other apps from the Google Play Store.
French news channel BFMTV praised the phone’s “superb design, powerful processor and very high quality camera and video” but a phone without Google Mobile Services proved a step too far.
BFMTV reviewer Raphael Grably described the phone as “excellent but without Google services, unusable”.
Nicolas Lellouche, from tech website 01net agreed, describing Google’s monopoly of phone applications as “terrifying”.
In China, the Android ban has had no effect on Huawei’s devices: Google services have been censored by the Communist Party since 2010.
Huawei has said it will sue the Trump administration over its block stopping the Chinese tech behemoth from trading with US firms.
Trump has accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and violating US sanctions on Iran, claims the firm has denied.
However, the President’s ban forced Google to revoke Huawei’s licence to use its Android operating system.
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French users will have to pay €1,099 for the Huawei Mate 30 Pro despite it lacking the most popular apps.
The Mate 30 Pro is also on sale in Spain and Switzerland.
A spokesperson for Huawei UK said that there are “no plans to go on sale in the UK this year”, but added that the company is “considering a limited release in the new year”.